Her Voice In The Mist
by CrazyJaney
Summary: Kenshin leaves, thinking he's putting everyone in danger by staying. What he doesn't know is he's putting Kaoru in more danger by leaving than by staying. (One-shot R&R! Pleaz! Luv ya lots!)


A/N: ok. i'm guilty as proven. i wrote a dramtic story about Kenshin leaving. It's been done so many times, i no, but i was in math and i really wanted to write 1 like this, so please don't stop reading me because of this ficcie. if u don't like it, u can burn me in a review if ya want, it don't bother me. i is used to it, from my sister whose only 7 and thinks she knows everything. So please even if u don't like it, make me happy witha review (even if it is one to tell me that it sucked and u never want to read anything like it again) Arigatou! Luv ya lots!

Aoshi-Sama's weaselgirl  
  
Her Voice In The Mist  
  
Kenshin's POV  
  
I stared at the moonlit river flowing beneath me, from the bridge I was standing on. I must leave. I have no choice, by staying I'm putting everyone in danger, especially Kaoru.... my thoughts drifted as I remembered Enishi's Jinchuu. I can't put them in that kind of danger.  
  
"I have to leave," I said out loud. Sure, Kaoru's going to be really mad at me when she finds out I'm gone, but at least she'll be safe. I forced my feet to walk away from the bridge and away from Tokyo, away from Kaoru.  
  
Kaoru's POV  
  
"Kenshin? Ne, Kenshin, open up," I called into the thin rice paper of Kenshin's shoji. Nothing. Not a word. Maybe something happened to him! I better go in. I pulled the shoji open only to find that Kenshin wasn't there. My mind raced. Where could he be? Oh, no! What if he decided to wander again? Kami no!  
  
"KENSHIN!?" I yelled throughout the dojo. Yahiko ran up to me.  
  
"Hey Busu, what's wrong? Why isn't there anything to eat?" Yahiko asked me.  
  
"Have you seen Kenshin? He's gone, Yahiko, he's gone. I just know it," I said resigning to the fact.  
  
"He's not! He promised! He's jsut at the market or something," the little boy pressed.  
  
"All his stuff is gone. He made dinner and left it on the counter. He's gone," I told him, feeling my eyes water.  
  
"No....." Yahiko muttered his eyes widening in realization.  
  
"Yes," I corrected him, my tears now falling.  
  
Sanosuke's POV  
  
"Dammit, Kenshin! What about Jou-chan? Does she mean so little to you?!" I shouted at the redhead in front of me.  
  
"Sessha has to leave. Sessha is putting them in danger by staying, look what Enishi did to her," he pointed out to me.  
  
"Teme! The only one he hurt was you! He did nothing to her! He made her eat her own cooking and dress in horrible kimonos, but other than that he did absolutely nothing to her!" I retorted.  
  
"No, what if he had? He could of. Sessha can't take that chance," he tried to argue. I grabbed him by the front of his gi.  
  
"Listen here you bastard. You think that staying will hurt them, but let me tell you, leaving is going to hurt a lot worse than staying," I tried to drive my point through his thick skull.  
  
"Sessha's enemies are still after him. If they find out how important all of you are to me than they will use you," he persisted. I dropped him to his feet and punched him.  
  
"No! Jou-chan is probably really hurting now!" I tried to punch him again, but he drove the hilt of his sword into my stomach, causing me to drop to my knees in pain.  
  
Kenshin's POV  
  
"I'm sorry Sano, I really am," I apologized as I once again turned to leave. I had not expected to run into Sano, while he was out drinking.  
  
I watched him crumple to the ground, clutching his stomach, cursing the whole way.  
  
"Teme, ki-sama," he cursed before passing out. I left him there, knowing that if I took him to the clinic, I would get it from Megumi-dono. I couldn't do that. Leaving was hard enough, without someone else giving me reasons not to.  
  
Yahiko's POV  
  
"Kaoru, you got to get up. You have to eat something," I tried to convince my teacher.  
  
"I knew it. I knew he would leave," she said blankly. Before I knew she was on her feet and in her room. I tried to go in, but she denied me entrance.  
  
"Come on Kaoru, you can't stay locked up in there forever," I said through the screen. That's it, I'm going in there.  
  
I walked in and what I saw shocked em to no end. Kaoru was sitting on her futon with a small dagger held to her wrist. I ran over and shoved the dagger away from her.  
  
"What the hell do you think your doing?" I asked as if she were insane. She just started to cry harder.  
  
Megumi's POV  
  
Yahiko came running in the clinic with a dagger with a small trickle of blood on it.  
  
"Yahiko-kun, what is it?" I asked as he panted trying to regain his breath.  
  
"Kaoru....(huff)....tried.....(wheeze)....to kill.....(pant).....herself," he told me in staggered breaths.  
  
"What? Kaoru-chan tried to kill herself? Why?" I asked in disbelief.  
  
"Kenshin left," a gruff voice said from the door.  
  
"Sanosuke! What happened to you?" I demanded.  
  
"Kenshin happened to me. The bastard knocked me out and left," he answered.  
  
"Ken-san? But why? Why would he leave?" I wondered.  
  
"He thinks by staying he's putting us all in danger," Sano informed me and Yahiko.  
  
"Well, he put Kaoru-chan in a lot of danger by leaving. She tried to commit suicide," I told him.  
  
"Nani? Jou-chan? Is she alright?" he jumped to conclusions.  
  
"Yahiko-kun was able to stop her. Now, I have to go to her, Sano you lay over there. Yahiko-kun, stay here," I instructed them.  
  
I ran all the way to the dojo. By the time I was there I was out of breath. I quickly caught my breath and called out for Kaoru.  
  
"Kaoru-chan!? Where are you?" I yelled through the dojo, stopping at the door of her room to see a kitchen knife sticking out of her chest. Her breathing was shallow and slowing. I ran over to her and withdrew the blade.  
  
I examined the situation. The knife had missed the vitals, but the loss of blood was causing her to become weak.  
  
"Oh, Kaoru-chan!" I cried grabbing a sheet. I removed her yukata and wrapped the linen around the wound tightly to stop the bleeding.  
  
As if on cue Sano and Yahiko came bounding in, even though I had told them to stay at the clinic. The look on Sano's face told me all I needed to know about his affections. He didn't love me. He loved her.  
  
Sanosuke's POV  
  
I saw Kaoru lying there, not moving with blood all over the place and I almost died myself. I do love Kaoru. The fox lady did hold a spot in my heart for a while, until I realized it was just a cover for what I felt for Kaoru.  
  
"Jou-chan, what are you doing to yourself?" I asked softly.  
  
"Sano, pick her up and carry her to the clinic. Yahiko-kun, run ahead and tell Gensai-sensai," Megumi told us. As Yahiko ran of I bent over to pick Kaoru up gently.  
  
"Carefully. The sheet is tight, but it isn't a bandage, so we have to be very gentle with it. Get her to the clinic, fast, but don't break the bandage," Megumi told me.  
  
I complied and started walking fast towards the clinic. Megumi stayed behind to clean up the blood. She must have decided that it could wait, because next thing I knew she was by my side.  
  
Kenshin's POV  
  
I didn't get very far out of Tokyo. Only to Kyoto. I rapidly approached the Aoiya and I was met with a young woman leaping in joy.  
  
"Himura! Himura! What're you doing here? Where's Kaoru-chan! I missed you all so much!" Misao exclaimed pulling me into a tight hug.  
  
"Hello, Misao-dono. I'm merely passing. I left Tokyo," I answered truthfully. Her joy soon faded as my words hit her.  
  
"Nani? Why? What about Kaoru-chan?" Misao let go of me and brought her hands to her head, "Why, Himura? Why did you hurt her like that?"  
  
"Misao, what are you doing out here? It's cold you should come in," a male voice asked.  
  
"Aoshi-Sama! It's Himura! He left Kao-chan and all the others, as if they didn't mean anything at all," Misao answered, now becoming angry.  
  
"Battousai. You are a fool. Didn't you see what you had back in Tokyo? Times are changing, the enemy becoming fewer in number," he explained to me.  
  
"I am merely passing," I repeated to Aoshi.  
  
Misao's POV  
  
I couldn't believe that Himura had actually left. When they left Kyoto for the first time, it had been obvious that the two had feelings for each other. And when Enishi kidnapped Kaoru and Himura was in Rukinamara, it was so painfully obvious that those feelings were love.  
  
"Himura you moron!" I screamed reaching for my kunais. I leapt at him only to be stopped by Aoshi-Sama.  
  
"Let me go, Aoshi-Sama! I'm gonna beat him down to hell for what he's putting Kaoru through!" I turned on him. Sure I loved Aoshi-Sama, but right now, he was stopping me from helping a friend.  
  
"Misao, let him go. You can't force him to go back," Aoshi-Sama tried telling me.  
  
"Oh, yes I can! I can knock him out and drag him back to Tokyo! You can't tell me you'd just let him go?!" I asked incredulously.  
  
"He made the choice as a man, you cannot sway a man from the path he has chosen." That crap that I cant' understand again. He makes so much sense that he makes none.  
  
"Yes I can! He will not hurt Kaoru like this! Once she finds out she is going to be devastated!" I argued. Aoshi-Sama let go off me and I found that Himura had left in the heat of our argument.  
  
Kaoru's POV  
  
I woke up to a lot of pain and bright lights. Where am I? I wondered. All I remember is Kenshin leaving and me stabbing myself....  
  
"Is she awake?" I heard voice whispering around me.  
  
"Will she be ok?"  
  
"Kaoru, look she's waking up!" I opened my eyes slowly and took in my surroundings.  
  
"Kaoru-chan?" a soft female voice asked me. I turned my head and saw Megumi.  
  
"How do you feel?" she inquired.  
  
"In p-pain," I stumbled on the words. She nodded and scribbled something on the paper in front of her.  
  
"The medicine should kick in soon. Do you remember what happened?" she questioned again.  
  
"H-hai," I answered weakly. She nodded once again and turned away. I heard her telling everyone that I would be fine and that I should stay away from the dojo for awhile. That there were too many memories there. Sano volunteered to clean his place up and let me stay with him.  
  
"I'll do it," I heard him say. Then just as promised the medicine took effect and my lids slid shut.  
  
Sanosuke's POV  
  
I let Kaoru and the punk stay at my place with me for awhile, to make sure Kaoru didn't try and hurt herself again. I love Kaoru, but I also respect her. But damn did that woman have a nice rack. Okay, so I didn't exactly respect her privacy.  
  
I liked having her stay at my place. She got better and better at cooking too. So I really didn't have to deal with awful food for long. Yahiko somehow got his little girlfriend Tsubame to give her cooking lessons. They turned out to be efficient.  
  
I don't know if Yahiko was liking the fact that he was living with me, but who the hell cared about him? Okay, so we all did, but would never actually admit it. He did spend more time at the Akabeko earning lots of teasing from me and Megumi. Kaoru wasn't much of a help in that department.  
  
It seemed that she had fell into a kind of depression. She couldn't train, because it would put too much strain on the stitches on her chest. That put a downer in her mood. She couldn't get over Kenshin's departure either.  
  
I caught her trying to slit her wrists twice last week, too. Kaoru didn't see any point in living anymore. Tae tried to set her up with dates, but they all thought she was crazy and suicidal. The latter of the two is true, but she most defiantly isn't crazy.  
  
It's been a month since Kenshin left us all. We couldn't get the blood off of Kaoru's floor in the dojo either. We tried, but since it was left unattended to for so long, it wouldn't come off. I still feel so bad for Kaoru.  
  
Kenshin's POV  
  
I can't get her out of my head. Every girl with long, raven hair that I see, I think is Kaoru. I've decided that I wouldn't' live if I don't go back to the dojo. My place jsut isn't' wandering anymore. I have a home now. I can't believe that I neglected that and left anyway.  
  
I keep having these crazy dreams, there's a woman with long black hair calling out to me, but I can't make out who it is. Every time, it's the same words. 'Where are you? Don't you see? You killed me....' I think that it might be Tomoe. Seeing as I really did kill her.  
  
Near the end of the dream I get closer and closer to her, but just before I can see who it is, I wake up. Last night, I caught the faint smell of jasmine. Kaoru smells like jasmine. But I didn't kill her, it can't be her. I know I'm insane with loneliness, and I miss her like crazy, but I didn't kill her. I didn't kill her.  
  
That night, I had the dream again. This time I saw the face, it was crying and sad. One that I had seen cry so many times that it hurt. It was Kaoru.  
  
Sanosuke's POV  
  
I saw him coming down the road and my blood curled. I had to do something to hurt him. Worse than physical pain. I play a trick on him, but to do that I need Kaoru.  
  
I ran all the way back to my apartment.  
  
"Jou-chan! Kenshin's back!" I told her. Her face lit up, but I still needed her.  
  
"Would you be willing to play a cruel joke on him? To pay him back?" I asked. She nodded her head enthusiastically.  
  
"Alright, you have to pretend to be dating me....."  
  
Kenshin's POV  
  
I made my way back to the dojo. It was utterly silent. It was pretty early. Maybe they were all still in bed. I tiptoed to Kaoru's room. I slid the shoji open and what I saw made me vomit in the corner.  
  
Kaoru's blood was pooled in the center of her room. Was she dead? Who did it? Where is she now? Where was Yahiko? Those were all the thoughts running through my head as I heard the dojo door creak open.  
  
I ran out to see Kaoru and Sano standing hand in hand. My eyes wandered to Kaoru's chest, where there were stitches holding closed a wound that looked like it was caused by a kitchen knife. Sano caught my eye and smiled. What he did next shocked me.  
  
He bent over and kissed her. Kaoru leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him. Sano put his hands on her waist. My eyes widened and Sano must have saw this, because he cocked a brow at me. He released Kaoru and started laughing at me, while Kaoru sat on the ground coughing and rubbed her lips on the end of her training gi. Now I was confused.  
  
"Just what is going on?" I asked.  
  
"Just a little welcome back present. We decided to play a cruel joke on you for almost killing Jou-chan," he told me. So my dream did have meaning.  
  
"How did I kill her?" I asked wondering.  
  
"By leaving. Yahiko caught her the first time, and then she did it while he got Megumi. We almost lost her. She was out for three days before she even woke up. Then she's been trying ever since," Sano replied. I think I already knew, but I asked anyway.  
  
"Tried what?"  
  
"Suicide." was the only reply I got.  
  
Kaoru's POV  
  
Kenshin's face was filled with horror when he realized that the stitches in my chest were my own doing. He did this to me. I love him and once he left, I had nothing to live for. I had found an inheritor for Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, I had raised him right, I had nothing left.  
  
Kenshin's reaction was to yell at me I'm sure, but he doesn't understand. If he hadn't come back I swear, I would have taken one of Sano's knifes, and ran off. I would have killed myself. No questions asked. It would have happened if he hadn't came back.  
  
When I saw him, it was like life was returned to me. There was no need to sulk anymore, no need to die, just the need to live. I love him so much that it hurts to not have it returned. I need him. He's my life, my will to live.  
  
Kenshin didn't speak for awhile. Nor did anyone else. That is until Megumi came in looking for me.  
  
"Kaoru-chan? Time to check the stitches. Let me see your wrists as well, no doubt they'll need to be treated after what you did yesterday," I heard her sigh before turning into the gate. She saw Kenshin and gasped. Then her expression grew angry. She walked over to him and beat the shit out of him with her medical bag.  
  
"How dare you leave! How dare you do this to Kaoru-chan! I should kill you! I would if I didn't know Kaoru would kill herself after!" she screamed at him. She moved away from him and to me.  
  
"Hold out your wrists," she commanded softly. I complied, holding out my wrists to her.  
  
"Deary me, I do hope this will stop now that he's back. Please, don't do this to yourself anymore," she pleaded with me. I nodded. She smiled and excused herself.  
  
Kenshin got up and walked over to me. I turned my head towards the ground. I suddenly found myself in his embrace.  
  
"Sumansu, aishiteru, aishiteru, Kaoru," he held me close and whispered the words I had always longed to hear. I closed my eyes and replied.  
  
"Aishiteru, Kenshin," he tilted my head up and caught my lips with his own.  
  
It was so wonderful, my lips pressed against his. I felt his tongue trying to part my lips and I opened my mouth for him, giving access to his probing tongue. It swept inside my mouth, exploring. I allowed my own tongue to do the same as we got lost in one another's embrace.  
  
Owari

A/N: ok was it that bad? i don't think it was that bad, but it definently wasn't wat i usually write. even the style is different. i never ever wrote one in everyone's POV before. so i tried it. pleaz remember even if ya burn me, pleaz review it. they make me happy. Luv ya lots!

Aoshi-Sama's weaselgirl


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